From 12 March 2025, the MUCA will be showing the first Vhils solo exhibition "Strata - Selected works: 2005 - 2025" in Germany. Visitors can expect a comprehensive selection of works from the last two decades. Using a wide range of materials, techniques and conceptual approaches, they will experience the development of the Portuguese artist's unmistakable artistic style.
Who is Vhils?
Alexandre Farto aka Vhils was born in Lisbon in 1987 and is considered a contemporary "urban archaeologist". He has developed a unique visual language based on the removal of surface layers from walls and other media using unconventional tools and techniques.
Having grown up in an industrial suburb of Lisbon, he was strongly influenced by the urbanisation that took place there in the 1980s and 90s. He was fascinated by how these changes affected the structure of the urban landscape. This inspired him to draw parallels with the principles of New Realism and the psychogeography of Situationism.
In the early 2000s, he began interacting with the urban environment through the practice of graffiti: at the age of thirteen, he started leaving his "tags" and "stencils" in streets and on trains. He later studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, where he developed his unique style: he removed the upper layers of walls with unconventional tools, creating portraits of a special kind.
Vhils at MUCA Munich
Works by Vhils could be admired as part of the anniversary exhibition "25 Years" as well as in your joint exhibition of several street artists in the MUCA Bunker.
The anniversary exhibition (06/10/2022 - 10/09/2023) featured Vhils' "Dwindle Series #03″ from 2019 (see image above), an artwork etched into a metal plate, and Acumen Series#02, an advertising poster processed using one of Vhils' special ablation techniques.
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How does Vhils work?
Vhils deals with the effects of global development and homogenisation on landscapes and identities. Like a modern urban archaeologist, he peels back the layers of our material culture and reflects on the effects of urbanity, development and global homogenisation on landscapes and people's identities. True to his motto: destroy in order to create something new, he creates powerful and poetic images that are intended to humanise public space.
He often uses tools such as a drill or explosives to better remove the wall layers and plaster. By removing the upper layers of the wall, he gives his portraits a haptic effect. Another aim of his work is to reflect the destruction and decay of the urban environment caused naturally.
Farto's special working technique forms the basis for his "Scratching the Surface" project. This was presented for the first time at the VSP Group Exhibition in Lisbon 2007, then the following year at the Cans Festival in London.
From the favelas in Rio to the Centre Pompidou
Since 2005, Vhils has presented his work worldwide in exhibitions, events and other contexts - from projects with communities in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to collaborations with renowned institutions such as the MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (Lisbon), the MIMA Museum (Brussels), the Contemporary Arts Center (Cincinnati), Le Centquatre-Paris (Paris), the CAFA Art Museum (Beijing), the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation (Hong Kong), the Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego).
An avid experimenter, Vhils has developed his personal aesthetic in a variety of media, from stencil painting to metal etching, from pyrotechnic explosions and video to sculptural installations, in addition to his groundbreaking bas-relief carving technique. He has also directed several music videos, short films and two stage productions.
